Selected bacterial communities associated with macro-benthic fauna assemblages at the Timsah Lake and the Western Lagoon’s sediments, Suez Canal, Egypt

Abstract

The survival of the human enteric organisms in the aquatic environment has drawn attention in view of its public health importance. The present study deals with the collection of benthic fauna and some selected bacterial clusters from 13 stations of Timsah Lake and Western Lagoon to determine if there is a relationship between them on one hand and their relationship with certain environmental variables on the other. The study lasted from autumn 2015 to summer 2016. The results showed that macro-benthic populations consisted of 43 species and annual densities of 177,879 individuals/m2 falling under four groups. The Western Lagoon contained 15 species and 11,974 ind./m2, while the Timsah Lake was represented by 39 species and 165,905 ind./m2 (4 species of which were exclusively present on the Western Lagoon, 28 species were exclusively present on the Timsah Lake and 11 species were present in the two lakes). The total bacterial count in water was estimated at 15,869 CFU/100 ml with an average of 1220.7, while, in sediment there was 14,375 CFU/g with an average of 1105.8. Nearly, all the bacterial types had their lowest values in stations I and II (in Timsah Lake), whereas, they attained their maximum values in the stations of Western Lagoon. The current results indicated that (with the exception of the TC that was within the permitted level of the World Health Organization (TC < 500 CFU/100 ml)) all the water samples collected from the studied area were contaminated with a higher amount of bacterial groups than the acceptable limits of the organization (E. coli and FS < 100 CFU/100 ml).